The Marquee Matchups:

- Brett Anderson outdueled David Price, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks over seven innings and striking out a season-high eight.
- Chris Carpenter outdueled Timmy Lincecum, giving up one run over 7.2 innings with a 4:2 K:BB ratio.
- Tom Gorzelanny outdueled Tommy Hanson, which doesn't seem quite right, striking out nine and allowing just one run over seven innings.
- Barry Enright outdueled Ubaldo Jimenez, which is even crazier, conceding just one run over 6.2 innings.

The Undercard:

- Kevin Correia and Chris Narveson engaged in a pitchers anti-duel. Narveson lasted just three innings, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks, but Correia was even worse, coughing up five runs on seven hits and four walks over 4.1 innings.
- Trevor Bell and Kevin Slowey weren't much better in their clash. Bell allowed three runs over 4.1 innings, walking six, while Slowey got slapped around for seven hits and four runs in three innings.
- the night's third double-train wreck saw Jason Vargas give up seven runs on eight hits over 6.1 innings, while Javy Vazquez managed to serve up two home runs to Ichiro (among the three in total he surrendered) in just three innings. The final damage was four runs on eight hits.

Notables:

- Manny Ramirez returned to action and went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. In fact, he was the only one of the Dodgers' one through five hitters |STAR|not|STAR| to get a home run.
- Johnny Cueto gave up all four of those home runs, allowing five runs total over three innings, in his return to action.
- Justin Upton went 2-for-3 with a double, home run and stolen base against Jimenez, against who he was a lifetime 0-for-15 coming into the game.
- Jed Lowrie hit a walk-off home run to lead off the 11th inning and extend his hitting streak to nine games.
- Yuniesky Betancourt hit his 13rd home run, and third grand slam of the season, then capped off the first gme of Saturday's double-header with the game-winning hit in the 11th inning. Wait, who? That can't be right.
- Max Scherzer didn't outduel anyone special, but still struck out eight over seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned), to win his ninth.
- Matt Stairs set a new big league record with his 21st career pinch-hit home run.
- Peter Bourjos hit his first major league home run, his first major league triple, and got four of his first six major league RBI.
- Ian Desmond went 4-for-5 with two runs scored.
- Ryan Howard went 1-for-4 with an RBI in his return from the DL.
- It was a good night in Baltimore to be a Josh. Josh Bell went 3-for-4 with his first two big league home runs and five RBI, while Josh Hamilton went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI, giving him a ridiculous .356/.407/.624 line on the year.
- Wandy Rodriguez struck out 10 over six innings, but took the loss as he gave up three runs (two earned) on seven hits and a walk.
- Ichiro Suzuki went 3-for-5 with two solo home runs.
- Eduardo Nunez, filling in for Alex Rodriguez at third base, went 1-for-3 with an RBI, his first hit and first RBI in the majors.
- Jon Niese got a rain-shortened complete game, allowing one run over five innings while striking out five.
- Tony Pena, told he'd be starting the nightcap of Saturday's double-header just hours in advance, managed to last seven innings and gave up four runs on five hits, striking out three without walking anyone. The numbers weren't great, but on a day when the White Sox played 21 innings over two games and the rest of the bullpen couldn't do much right, Pena's outing was downright heroic.

Save Chances:

- Rafael Soriano, converted (36). One inning, one pile of goose eggs.
- Mariano Rivera, converted (25). Not his usual shice of perfection, as he gave up a run on two hits over 1.1 innings, but the Yankees had scored two for him in the bottom of the eighth so the outcome was never in doubt.
- Jose Valverde, converted (24). One K in a perfect inning.
- Jonathan Broxton, converted (22). One K in a perfect inning.
- Carlos Marmol, converted (22). Two K's and a walk over a shutout inning.
- John Axford, converted (19). Struck out four over 1.2 innings, and gave up one lonely hit.
- Juan Gutierrez, converted (4). Struck out a batter and gave up a hit that was not a home run in a shutout inning.
- Koji Uehara, converted (1). Struck out one and gave up a hit in a scoreless inning.
- JJ Putz, blown (4). He gave up the tying run in the ninth, but then redeemed himself with a scoreless 10th to get the win.
 

Other Closer Outings:

- Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect 11th inning, striking out one, to notch his fifth win of the season.
- Joakim Soria pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit, in the first game of a double-header.
- Bobby Jenks gave up hits to two of the three batters he faced in the 11th inning to bring home the winning run, although Chris Sale officially got tagged with the loss.
- Ryan Franklin gave up a hit and struck out one in a scoreless ninth to nail down a four-run lead.
- Brian Fuentes pitched a perfect ninth, striking out one, protecting a six run lead. In Mike Scioscia's defense, it was a four run lead when Fuentes began warming up.
- Leo Nunez came in with a four run lead and made things interesting, eventually allowing one run on a hit and two walks while striking out two.

Non-Closer Outings:

- Mike Leake began his switch to the bullpen by giving up two runs on five hits and a walk in 2.1 innings, although he did strike out four.
- Hong-Chih Kuo pitched 1.2 scoreless setting up Broxton.

Tough Days:

- Kyle Kendrick gave up five runs on nine hits and four walks over 5.2 innings.
- Cliff Lee got pounded around for eight runs on 10 hits, including four home runs, over 5.2 innings.
- Brett Wallace went 0-for-4, and is now hitting .200/.290/.236 in his first 55 major league at-bats. He also committed his first big league error.
- fellow Astros rookie Chris Johnson committed two errors, and now has 10 in 57 games in the bigs. He's also got just two hits in his last 20 at-bats. The pixie dust may have worn off.
- fellow NL rookie Michael Stanton went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and stranded six runners. It was a lousy night for rookies in Miami.
- Brian Bullington gave up six runs on 11 hits over five innings, walking two and striking out four.
- James McDonald flopped trip fives (five innings, five runs, five walks) and only missed quads because he gave up six hits and struck out only four.

Injuries:

- Chad Billingsley strained his calf early in Saturday's game but was able to gut it out through 5.2 innings, and he should be OK going forward.
- Corey Hart, out with a hamstring injury, showed up in the on-deck circle Saturday night although he didn't actually get used as a pinch-hitter. He should be back soon.
- not that his performance wasn't bad enough to warrant a hook, but Slowey exited the game complaining of discomfort in his right triceps muscle and was placed on the 15-day DL. He'll get an MRI Monday.
- Ron Mahay left in the sixth inning after injuring his shoulder trying to field a ground ball and also hit the 15-day DL. He, too, will get an MRI Monday. Hope the Twins get the bulk rate.
- Stephen Strasburg was pitching his usual gem (one run over 4.1 innings with a 6:0 K:BB ratio) before straining his right forearm flexor tendon and being forced out. His season is likely over, but unless the MRI looks ugly he shouldn't need surgery or anything.

Home Runs:

- Josh Hamilton (27), Luke Scott (23), Matt Kemp (20), Russell Branyan (19), Andre Ethier (19), Ty Wigginton (19), David Wright (19), Evan Longoria (18), Ryan Braun (17), Justin Upton (17), Lyle Overbay (16), Bobby Abreu (15), Jorge Posada (14), Yuniesky Betancourt (13), Roger Bernadina (8), Sean Rodriguez (8), Wilson Betemit (7), Ramon Castro (7), Ichiro Suzuki 2 (5), Don Kelly (4), Randy Winn (4), Jed Lowrie (3), Matt Stairs (3), Josh Bell 2 (2), Jay Gibbons (2), Ryan Theriot (2), Gregor Blanco (1), Peter Bourjos (1)

Stolen Bases:

- Juan Pierre (49), Alexis Rios (25), Will Venable (24), Hanley Ramirez (23), Ben Zobrist (23), Coco Crisp (21), Drew Stubbs (20), Denard Span (19), Chase Headley (16), Shin-Soo Choo (15), Justin Upton (14), Fred Lewis 2 (13), Albert Pujols (12), Jason Kendall (11), David Murphy (10), Joey Votto (10), Sean Rodriguez (9), Matt Holliday (8), Daric Barton (5), Kosuke Fukudome (5), Chris Dickerson (4), Felix Pie (4), Lorenzo Cain (3), Willie Harris (3), Brent Lillibridge (3), AJ Pierzynski (3)

Caught Stealing:

- Hunter Pence (7), Alexei Ramirez (7), Omar Vizquel (5)